Rock Band Dengue Fever And Wildlife Alliance Partner To Preserve Cambodia's Natural Heritage

WASHINGTON, DC & LOS ANGELES, CA (Top40 Charts/ It's Alive! Media) - Acclaimed Cambodian-American rock band Dengue Fever (www.myspace.com/denguefevermusic) and the non-profit environmental organization Wildlife Alliance (www.wildlifealliance.org) are pleased to announce the launch of a partnership to preserve Cambodia's natural heritage, including threatened populations of tigers, Asian elephants, and some of the largest tracts of rainforest remaining in Asia.

'We share a common vision,' said Dengue Fever guitarist Zac Holtzman. 'We want to preserve Cambodia's rich cultural heritage, just like Wildlife Alliance is working to protect Cambodia's wildlife species and forests.
By rescuing and caring for wildlife species victimized by illegal trade, preserving habitat and educating and creating jobs for Cambodians, Wildlife Alliance's work is vital to preserving Cambodia's natural legacy for future generations.'

'We hope that this partnership will help all of us who strive to save Cambodia's unique heritage,' said Wildlife Alliance's Director of U.S. Operations, Michael Zwirn. 'Fans of Dengue Fever are naturally drawn to the artistic history of Cambodia, and we want to inform them how they can be involved in saving the country's wildlife and forests alongside its cultural treasures.'

The partnership officially kicks off at the State Theater in Falls Church, VA on Friday, April 17, 2009 during Dengue Fever's North American spring tour. While Dengue Fever perform, Wildlife Alliance will work a booth set up at the venue and educate and inform fans about Cambodian conservation.

Future goals of the partnership include benefit concerts, charity remixes, online commercials, and cross marketing on social networking sites and websites.

Dengue Fever began when keyboardist Ethan Holtzman discovered the traditional Cambodian pop music of the 60's on a trip to Cambodia. Along with lead singer Chhom Nimol, bassist Senon Williams, drummer Paul Smith and David Ralicke on horns, the band perform updated versions of classic Cambodian pop songs as well as a wide variety of new compositions. Since forming in Los Angeles, Dengue Fever has released three acclaimed albums, toured around the globe, and seen increasing attention from Pitchfork Media, the New York Times, National Public Radio and other media. The band's third release, Venus On Earth, was selected as one of the best world music records of 2008 by the iTunes Store while Escape From Dragon House was named Amazon's Best International Release of 2005.

In the documentary film Sleepwalking Through the Mekong, out April 14 on DVD/CD soundtrack via M80 Music, Dengue Fever performs their music in Cambodia as the first Western band to perform Cambodian Khmer rock since the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

ABOUT DENGUE FEVER:
Dengue Fever (http://www.myspace.com/denguefevermusic) is Chhom Nimol - who sang regularly for the King and Queen of Cambodia, Ethan Holtzman (keyboards), Zac Holtzman (guitar), David Ralicke (horns), Senon Williams (bass) and Paul Smith (drums). The band's music has been featured in film and television shows including CITY OF GHOSTS, MUST LOVE DOGS, BROKEN FLOWERS, HBO's hit series TRUE BLOOD and twice on Showtime's WEEDS. They have released three albums: Dengue Fever, Escape From Dragon House, and Venus On Earth; and are set to release their DVD/CD soundtrack to the documentary Sleepwalking Through The Mekong on April 14, 2009.

ABOUT WILDLIFE ALLIANCE:
Wildlife Alliance is an international non-profit conservation and wildlife protection organization headquartered in Washington, D.C with field offices and partnerships in Cambodia, Thailand and the Russian Far East. Our field staff trains park rangers to prevent poaching and deforestation in protected areas and works with regional law enforcement officials to stop wildlife trafficking and put an end to the illegal wildlife trade. Wildlife Alliance also raises public awareness about environmental issues and supports local communities through sustainable development and alternative livelihoods. Read more!

Scathing media cartoon burns sensitive nerve of Cambodia about ties with Thailand

By Xia Lin

PHNOM PENH, A scathing political cartoon has angered the Cambodian government at this sensitive time of the Cambodian-Thai ties, and pushed the publisher into an awkward situation.

The government is demanding a written explanation for the recently-printed newspaper cartoon depicting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra playing golf together, claiming that it could seriously affect the Cambodian-Thai relations.

"I need (a) written explanation. It's all. But if I don't have any response, then I will decide another step," English-language newspaper the Cambodia Daily on Wednesday quoted Information Minister Khieu Kanharith as saying.

In the hand-drawn picture published by another English-languagedaily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on April 10, Thaksin shot a mine instead of a ball with his golf pole into the territory of Thailand, saying that "YES, IT'S MINE!!! THEREFORE I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANTN WITH IT..."

Hun Sen, beside Thaksin right outside the borderline of Thailand, said that "BUT... WHAT ARE YOU DOING? IT IS YOUR COUNTRY..."

Khieu Kanharith said that "it is not a problem of offending, but this cartoon came at the time Thailand accused Cambodia of harboring Thaksin."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information issued a press release last week, saying that this cartoon was politically-oriented and would make readers misunderstand the political stance of Cambodia.

Cambodia already spiked the rumor that Thaksin was hidden here, but the cartoon obviously told readers that he was temporarily living in Cambodia, Khieu Kanharith said in the release.

"This came at the most sensitive time, and it is not a joke at all," he said, adding that the Phnom Penh Post should submit its evidence for Thaksin's stay in Cambodia.

By publishing the cartoon, the newspaper had violated an article of the press law prohibiting publication of information inciting discrimination, according to the press release.

Any media should be objective and neutral in its reporting, it added.

In the mean time, Michel Dauguet, CEO of the Post Media Co. which started to publish the Phnom Penh Post as daily paper last year, issued a statement to clarify that "our editorial cartoon does not imply that Mr. Thaksin is living or has taken residence in Cambodia."

Thaksin was represented in unspecified space outside Thailand, symbolizing his exile, and exacerbating tensions at home, he said.

"The fact that some people may have interpreted that this editorial cartoon gives credit to the absurd theory of Thaksin's presence in Cambodia is an unfortunate misunderstanding," he added.

In early April, spokesman of the Cambodian Council of Ministers Phay Siphan told reporters that "Thaksin actually didn't have any presence in our country."

For anything that he did, Thaksin could observe his own country's law and the international law, he added.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya once told reporters that the bilateral ties between Thailand and Cambodia could be affected adversely, if the ousted former premier were allowed to launch political attacks from Cambodia.

Days of demonstrations by the opposition force have led to serious instability in Thailand. The Thai criminal court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for 14 protest leaders including ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Besides, Cambodia and Thailand still have decades-old border disputes to settle. However, two heavy armed clashes between both troops in early April just have aggravated the tension at the border area.
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Cambodian New Year adds religious diversity to Easter weekend

Cambodian buddhist monk Savann Mey meditates during Cambodian New Year ceremonies at the monastic temple off Highway 63 in northern Boone County. Cambodian Buddhists from all over Missouri and beyond gathered for three days of festivities. Savann Mey has been living in Boone County for four years and is the only Cambodian Buddhist monk in the state. ¦ ZACHARY SIEBERT

BY Zachary Siebert

COLUMBIA — Easter weekend has always had a singular feel around Boone County.

Church parking lots and sanctuaries are conspicuously fuller than usual. Families and loved ones gather together dressed in their best, and children can be found running wildly, basket in hand, in search of pastel eggs. Traditions such as these help make this a joyful time of the year, but the hallowed Christian holiday wasn’t the only sacred event celebrated in Boone County this weekend.

The Wat Angkor Cambodian Buddhist Temple near Hallsville on Old Highway 63 played host to an entirely different tradition from halfway around the globe: the Cambodian New Year festival or Chol Chnam Thmey in the Khmer language.

While the temple is always an interesting place to visit in Boone County, it was an authentic and colorfully enchanting slice of Cambodia as Cambodian Buddhists from all over gathered together to commemorate the holiday.

The Cambodian New Year celebration lasts for three days beginning on New Year’s Day, usually April 13, based on the Buddhist calendar.

In Cambodia, the holiday is all-encompassing. Celebrations can be found everywhere in all aspects of daily life, but the most important rituals must take place at a holy temple. Fortunately for Cambodian Buddhists in Missouri, there is the Wat Angkor Temple in Boone County.

Occupied for the last four years by Savann Mey, the only Cambodian Buddhist monk who lives and practices in Missouri, the temple transforms into a remarkably beautiful hosting ground to Chol Chnam Thmey each year.

There are several customs that make the holiday unique, most notably the erection of sand mounds on the temple grounds representing holy burial grounds.

Participants plant incense in the mounds and leave offerings for loved ones and family who they believe have passed on to the next life while praying for their happiness and comfort.

As with all culturally significant traditions, an outsider has much to be curious about, but despite such distant origins, the Cambodian festivities share much in common with Easter celebrations elsewhere in the county.

The temple was fuller than usual. Families and loved ones were gathered together dressed in their best, and children were found running wildly around pastel-colored decorations.

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Cambodian gov't accuses media cartoon of affecting ties with Thailand

PHNOM PENH, A recently-printed media cartoon depicting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra playing golf together could seriously affect the Cambodian-Thai relations, said a press release of the Cambodian Information Ministry received here on Tuesday.

In the hand-drawn picture published by English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post on April 10, Thaksin shot a mine instead of a ball with his golf pole into the territory of Thailand, saying that "YES, IT'S MINE!!! THEREFORE I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANTN WITH IT..."

Hun Sen, together with Thaksin on the land of Cambodia, said that "BUT... WHAT ARE YOU DOING? IT IS YOUR COUNTRY..."

This cartoon was politically-oriented and would make readers misunderstand the political stance of Cambodia, said the ministry in its press release.

Cambodia already spiked the rumor that Thaksin was hidden here, but the cartoon obviously told readers that he was temporarily living in Cambodia, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said in the release.

The Phnom Penh Post should submit its evidence for Thaksin's stay in Cambodia, he said.

By publishing the cartoon, the newspaper had violated the relevant law of Cambodia, he said, adding that any media should be objective and neutral in its reporting.

In early April, spokesman of the Cambodian Council of Ministers Phay Siphan told reporters that "Thaksin actually didn't have any presence in our country."

For anything that he did, Thaksin could observe his own country's law and the international law, he added.

Demonstrations by the opposition force have led to serious instability in Thailand. Thaksin used to relay supportive messages to the protesters from his overseas location. Read more!

Cambodian gov't agrees to contain temple vandalism with int'l intervention

PHNOM PENH, The Cambodian government has agreed to ask for international intervention to help contain vandalism of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple at the border area with Thailand, national media said on Tuesday.

The government agrees with the proposals submitted by some NGOs(non-government organization) to guarantee the security of the temple with international law, and sue any ruiner for vandalism at the international community, spokesman of the Cambodian Council of Ministers Phay Siphan told Chinese-language daily newspaper the Commercial News.

The temple was awarded with the title of World Heritage Site inJuly 2008 by UNESCO (the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization), and it deserves Cambodian as well as international management and protection, he said.

It is a pity that UNESCO is only a cultural organization and can't handle lawsuits, he said, adding that the government is collecting evidence of Thai vandalism of the temple in order to help terminate such acts and seek for compensation.

Two armed confrontations between Cambodian and Thai troops at the border area in early April, together two others last year, have left a number of bullet pits and other ruins on the temple.

The damages have prompted NGOs to protest for the sake of the intactness of the historical site. They also urged the Cambodian side to take legal actions against the Thai side.

Cambodia and Thailand have never fully demarcated their over 800-km-long land border, but the International Court in Hague ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple and its surrounding area should belong to Cambodia.
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Thai PM cancels visit to Cambodia: official

PHNOM PENH, Due to the current instability in his country, Thai Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva has canceled his visit to Cambodia originally scheduled on April 18, national media on Tuesday quoted official source as saying.

"I received official notification that (Abhisit) has canceled his trip to Phnom Penh because of the political chaos in Thailand," Koy Kuong, spokesman of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post.

Abhist was scheduled to arrive here on Saturday for talks with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen and meeting with King Norodom Sihamoni and other senior officials.

Sry Thamrong, Hun Sen's personal advisor, told reporters last week that at least 7 out of 24 pieces of ancient Khmer artifacts will be returned to Cambodia, during Abhisit's expected visit to Cambodia.

These Khmer artifacts were stolen and trafficked out of Cambodia, but finally arrested by the Thai authorities.

Local media also reported that Hun Sen and Abhisit are expected to discuss the border disputes between the two countries during the Thai premier's visit here.
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Cambodian students depart for Japan for social study

PHNOM PENH, A Cambodian delegation of 22 people, with 20 high school students, one government official and one teacher, departed here on Monday for a 10-day trip of social study in Japan.

This has been the seventh delegation of its kind under the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Program, according to a press release of the Embassy of Japan.

During their visit to Japan, the students will visit sites mainly related to social and cultural affairs, as well as local communities, it said.

They will participate in exchange events with Japanese youths and citizens, including home-stays, school visits, and workshop, it said.

Different from the previous delegations, the seventh one will join the delegations from nine other ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries during their visit.

The 10 countries' participants will be divided into 10 groups and each group is a mixture of students from the 10 countries, said the press release, adding that they are thus expected to enhance their friendship and mutual understanding.

Last year, 160 Cambodian youths visited Japan under the JENESYS Program, which was one of the memorable events for the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Japan.
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Cambodia, Laos open new border gate to boost trade, tourism

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia and Laos have opened a new border gate to improve trade and tourism, at the eve of the Khmer New Year which falls on April 14-16, said national television TVK on Monday.

"This new gate will provide more chances for trade exchange and tourism growth, and eventually benefit the two countries," Tram Iev Tek, Cambodia Minister of Public Works and Transportation, was quoted by the state-run Television Kampuchea (TVK) as telling the inauguration ceremony last week.

It will also help promote the economic cooperation within the Great Mekong Sub-region, he added.

The border gate is situated between the Trapaing Kreal area in Stung Treng province of Cambodia and the Nong Nokkhien area in Champasak province of Laos.

Also last week, Cambodia and Laos agreed to open some of their provinces for mutual transportation in order to facilitate trade and economic development.

According to the agreement, all Laotian vehicles can travel to Siem Reap province and capital city of Phnom Penh of Cambodia, and all Cambodian vehicles to Pakse province and capital city of Vientiane of Laos.
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Cambodia war survivors turn to music

By DENIS D. GRAY

SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AP) — By the walls of ancient temples, just as the morning sun dapples the jungle floor and birds sing, survivors of Cambodia's killing fields and minefields drop their crutches, put aside their artificial limbs or blindly grope for their instruments — and then play music that can break the heart.

A tentative, mournful melody floats from a two-stringed "tro" bowed by Kak Vy, whose right leg is gone. He is joined by a zither plucked by Khieu Sarath, who lost his parents and sisters to Khmer Rouge murderers and whose mine-shattered leg was amputated without morphine. Phun Ath, blinded by a rocket, taps a drum softly.

Now, the first tourists arrive at the wondrous temples of Angkor, and the 20 musicians — amputees, blind, scarred, all destitute — hope that by dusk their playing will have earned them enough to sustain their families for another day. Together, they support more than 100 children and wives.

The musicians' lives mirror Cambodia's agony: 3 million dead in three decades of a savage war, American bombing, the Khmer Rouge reign of terror, a civil conflict and now coping in a country where a third of the people earn less than one dollar a day.

Several members of Ankor's two orchestras say they teetered on the verge of suicide before finding hope by banding together to play the music of their ancestors.

"When I lost my leg, I didn't want to live on this earth anymore," says Khieu Sarath. "Before I lost my leg my friends called me 'friend,' but when I became a disabled man even my close friends would call out, "One legged-man, where are you going?'"

Like almost all the musicians, Khieu Sarath describes his trials beginning during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror in the mid-1970s when some 2 million of his fellow Cambodians perished.

The fanatic communists executed his father because he allowed cows he was tending to stray into a cornfield, and his starving mother because she stole a cup of porridge from the communal kitchen. His two sisters were killed for taking a nap after grueling hours building a dam.

In the civil war that followed the Khmer Rouge fall in 1979, Khieu Sarath set off a land mine during a firefight, writhing in pain for 16 days in a remote jungle until help arrived. Then they tied his hands to a tree.

"My leg was cut like raw meat with a hack saw, without any injections," says the 48-year-old former soldier.

"Life was difficult for a disabled man. At the beginning I did not particularly want to be a musician. But I had no choice. I had to find something that was not difficult for a disabled man and this job fits a lot of people like me," he says.

Khieu Sarath gathered some of the disabled in 1997 and now seven of them play at Angkor's much-visited Ta Phrom, a monastic complex where gnarled roots and soaring trunks of ancient banyan and silk cotton trees intertwine with crumbling, dusky temples — a scene out of Hollywood's "Tomb Raider," which indeed was partially filmed here.

"Victims of Landmines," reads a sign in five languages. If every passing tourist who clicked a camera donated, the group would be rolling in cash, but as it is they're very lucky to earn several dollars apiece, plus $4 daily saved in a communal pot for any among them in distress.

This help is also extended to the second orchestra, which plays at Banteay Srei, the "jewel of Khmer art," a 10th century temple of pinkish sandstone famed for its delicate wall carvings.

Here, the 13 musicians sit at the temple's edge on a blue plastic sheet spread over a forest floor strewn with winter's withered leaves. The buzz of cicadas and the wind's rustle accompany their sometimes bouncy, sometimes elegiac melodies played on instruments very like those depicted on the centuries-old friezes of Angkor.

Most are ex-soldiers, some even one-time battlefield enemies. Several desperate villagers from the surrounding area have joined them, including Nov Rey, the only woman among the 20 whose husband threw acid on her face for a reason she still can't fathom. A lovely smile shines from her scarred face as she relates what it takes to care of her five children alone.

The group was brought together in 1999 by Phun Saroeun, who lost his left leg and two fingers fighting the Khmer Rouge alongside his two brothers, one now blind, the other missing a leg and both also members of the orchestra. Six of their cousins, an entire family, were exterminated by the Khmer Rouge.

"I hope that a regime like the Khmer Rouge will never return to Cambodia. I hope that my children will not have to endure the same suffering as we did," says the 46-year-old father of seven.

The Angkor musicians say the long delayed, United Nations-backed trial of the top five Khmer Rouge leaders, which began in earnest last month, may bring some closure and peace to them and their country.

"As an ordinary person, I want all five of them to publicly admit before the Cambodian people that they are guilty. I want them to confess that they committed genocide," Phun Saroeun says.

But it's the daily struggle and the fate of their children in tomorrow's Cambodia which absorbs most of their energies, thoughts and dreams.

"There is no one to help us disabled people," says Khieu Sarath, who supports eight children, including an adopted son. "We have to rely on ourselves, help ourselves. If we don't sacrifice ourselves for our children, they will not have a bright future."

Associated Press Writer Sopheng Cheang contributed to this report.

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LB exhibit shares visions of Khmer lives

By Greg Mellen Staff Writer


LONG BEACH - On the walls are multimedia, photographic and painted works. In a side room is a photo collage of transgender life in Cambodia along with several books by Cambodian-American authors, including Long Beach's Navy Phim and Oni Vitandham. In the center of the main room is a traditional-looking Cambodian figure with the Superman "S" on its chest.

The 2nd City Council Arts and Performance Space is into all things Khmer with the debut of a new show called "Transformation II: Bringing Contemporary Khmer/American Art to Long Beach."

The show features Khmer and Khmer-inspired paintings, sculpture, photography, dance and performance art. There will also be documentary films and a writers' forum with published Cambodian-American writers.

The event is being presented at the 2nd City Council space at 435 Alamitos Ave.

The show builds upon a show that was presented in July, 2008, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, at the Meta House Gallery.

That show paired the work of five California and five Cambodian artists, most of whom had never been in each other's countries.

Lydia Parusol, the art manager of Meta House, described the shows as the "first dialogue in an artistic way" between artists from the two countries.

In Cambodia, where most of the population is under the age of 30, in the wake of the Killing Fields Genocide of the late 1970s, a new and vibrant artistic movement is under way and artistic expression is blooming from its ancient but often constrictive roots.

"In Cambodia there are young artists who are trying to go from traditional sculpture to more critical thinking," Parusol said. "They are reflecting society and themselves in the present Cambodian culture."

And on the walls of the gallery, the fusions of old and new Cambodia are represented in many ways, reflecting a "bridge between traditional and modern art," according to Parusol.

Denise Scott, who splits time between the United States and Cambodia, saw the original "Transformations" show and knew she had to bring something similar to the U.S. and specifically to Long Beach because of its large Cambodian-American population.

Furthermore, she wanted to present the show over the Cambodian New Year which occurs in mid-April.

"Transformation II" includes the work from the original show, but then builds on it with performance art and plans to show 12 documentary films that look at the vibrant emerging arts scene in Cambodia, including some major public arts projects and individual artists.

Scott says the two Transformation shows are just the beginning of what she hopes will be an ongoing exchange.

Plans are already in the works for another show at Meta House, with five to seven American artists traveling to Cambodia to not only show work, but engage in artistic exchanges and possibly working with Cambodian artists to create new works.

Scott also plans to have a return show in Long Beach next April.

At this year's Long Beach show, only one of the Cambodian artists was able to obtain travel documents.

The artists featured have studied at Cal State Long Beach, the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, the Chicago Art Institute and Brown University, among others.

Khmer art on display

Transformation II: Bringing Contemporary Khmer/American Art to Long Beach" will run until May 3.

Today's events: An artists' reception from 6 to 9 p.m. with entertainment.

Friday, April 24: From 6 to 9 p.m. a second reception will feature the screening of documentaries and a book signing. Read more!

U.S. Secretary of State wishes Cambodian people happy Khmer New year

PHNOM PENH, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday issued a letter to wish the Cambodian people a happy Khmer New Year, which falls from April 14 to 16, according to the U.S. Embassy.

"On the occasion of the Khmer New Year, I wish the Cambodian people peace, prosperity, and best wishes," she said in the letter made available to the press by the embassy.

"I look forward to the year ahead as our two nations identify even greater opportunities to strengthen our bilateral ties, as well as to work together on mutual areas of interest," she said.

"This past year has been marked by significant progress in our relations, including U.S. military humanitarian ship visits, new agreements to implement assistance programs in economic development and the rule of law, and Peace Corps volunteers in 11 provinces," she added.

This has been the first time in recent years that a U.S. secretary of state wrote to greet the kingdom on the occasion of the Khmer New Year.

In early March, U.S. Embassy spokesman John Johnson once told local media that Cambodia will host a multinational peacekeeping exercise in 2010 as part of a U.S. State Department program.

"The Royal Government of Cambodia has agreed to host a multilateral peacekeeping training event in 2010 as part of the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), an annual Capstone training event attended by GPOI member nations and other regional and international partners," he said.

The event will provide training such as "field tactical and command post operations," but the formal planning and preparation for the exercise will not begin until late this year, he added.
Read more!

Concert Benefits Organization Devoted To Helping Abused Cambodian Children

By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor

Could a trafficked child standing on a dirty street in a far-off foreign country have an inkling that hope was coming to them from Tyler, Texas? Could they imagine a modern American church packed to the balconies full of worshippers asking God to rescue them?

Could they imagine a new life, far from the cruel hands of exploitive adults?

Hang on, hope is coming was the message that resounded April 5 at Rose Heights Church of God. Lindale transplant and international "worship" leader Paul Baloche made a hometown stop with his band to give a mighty push to Tyler native Kenny Rigsby and the "new generation nonprofit organization" For The Silent.

SPREAD THE WORD: Kenny Rigsby, a member of the “For the Silent” organization, speaks during the benefit concert.

In a loud affirmation to For The Silent, a ministry to sexually exploited children in Cambodia, nearly 1,000 worshippers gathered to hear the band belt out the best of the Baloche catalogue of modern worship favorites, then take a break to hear Rigsby describe what life was like for rescued children.

"It's amazing you guys," said the 27-year-old Rigsby, who'd been in Cambodia with his wife, Julie, in October researching ministries reaching out to children. Dressed in century running shoes, jeans, casual shirt and a loose tie, Rigsby said, "The hope in the eyes of these children as they're being restored is unbelievable. This is the hope of Jesus. This is the kind of power of hope possible when the Body of Christ rises up and begins to work out what we're saying here tonight, when we go out and bring hope and live the way Jesus told us to live."

Church goers raise their arms in praise during a benefit concert at the Rose Heights Church of God on April 5 in Tyler. The concert was held to raise money and awareness for victims of human trafficing.

The plight of trafficked children, Rigsby told the Tyler Morning Telegraph, is compounded by a Cambodian culture reeling from economic distress, cultural mores that permit certain types of exploitation and stretched thin law-enforcement agencies that can't fight the tide of sex trafficking.

At the Baloche concert Rigsby showed a video of a young girl rescued from life of slavery in a Cambodian brothel who said Christ saved her "so my life can start being a blessing, and become beautiful again." The girl said her "life was like a lotus plant" that grows out of mud and becomes a flower.

In the now silent building, Rigsby paused and added the painful kicker.

"Out of the tens of thousands of exploited children, fully a third of them are boys," he said. "All the efforts to help the children are made towards the girls, but there are zero programs anywhere in the country trying to help the boys. No one is helping them. They have no hope. It's almost impossible to find funding for boys but we know God loves and cares for boys and girls."

That disparity will change and more than a modicum of hope will soon be on its way to the forgotten, overlooked and silent children who cannot speak for themselves, if Rigsby can do something about it. Up to 12 ministries will implement a yearlong training program for long-term counseling, educational and restorative programs aimed exclusively to boys with financial help from For The Silent.

"You paid for this benefit concert," Rigsby quietly said, "but there is an opportunity tonight to give more. All of the money given, 100 percent, will go to funding the training programs. Nothing will be skimmed off the top."

It's a worthy effort from a "trustworthy ministry," said Baloche, who said he liked the "next-generation aspect" that For The Silent represents.

"There are so many wonderful nonprofit organizations in Tyler," he said, "but I want to commend Kenny and Julie. Their effort has moved me because it's the next generation, the heart of the 20-somethings. It gives me hope for the future and lot of hope for America."

Baloche called for Christians to make use of the short time they have.

"Pray and give God the few short years we have," he said. "Then your light will shine forth like the noon day. He loves children in Cambodia, Thailand, Asia, Africa and North America. The Lord still loves the world and we've got to be part of it. It's not hopeless, but if we don't do it, no one else is going to do it. Unless people do what Jesus said, there is no hope. Nothing happens until we pick up our cross and follow him."

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Thai, Cambodian PMs discuss border clashes

PATTAYA, Thailand (AFP) — Deadly border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia were caused by a "misunderstanding" and will not harm ties, the Thai premier said Friday after meeting his counterpart.

Abhisit Vejjajiva and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen met on the sidelines of an Asian summit here, their first encounter since three Thai soldiers died in fierce gunbattles near an ancient temple one week ago.

"During our bilateral talks we discussed the latest incident," Abhisit told a press conference after the meeting.

"It happened because of a misunderstanding. The incident will not affect our relations and we will use channels of communication if anything happens in future."

Abhisit said he would also visit Cambodia on April 18 to meet King Norodom Sihamoni, Hun Sen and other senior officials.

Tensions flared last July when the cliff-top building was awarded United Nations World Heritage status and four people died in clashes the following October.

Ownership of the temple was awarded to Cambodia in 1962 but the two countries are in dispute over five square kilometres (two square miles) of land around the temple which has yet to be officially demarcated.

Abhisit said that he had also discussed cooperation on their overlapping maritime zones and talked about financial assistance to improve the road in Cambodia that links up their border. Read more!

First Cambodian lesbian film is a hit

Lesbian film is the bad reflexion for Cambodian society. Cambodia doesn't need any drive to derail it cultural heritage, this is a bad example and teaching Cambodian children to ward inappropriate homosexual.


PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's first-ever movie featuring a taboo lesbian love story has been a surprising hit during its first week in theatres, the film's writer said Thursday.

Phoan Phuong Bopha said the two-hour "Who Am I?" about a Cambodian-American woman infatuated with a famous Cambodian actress has so far attracted some 4,000 viewers -- a blockbuster for the country's tiny movie industry.

"This film have been successful beyond our expectations while the film industry has declined. This film draws great attention," Phoan Phuong Bopha said.

The movie tells the tale of two women falling in love over a series of long-distance telephone conversations, with the Cambodian-American travelling to Cambodia to meet the star, she said.

But the feature ends in tragedy when the man the actress's parents want her to marry tracks the pair down.

"It is a true story of some movie stars," said Phoan Phuong Bopha, adding that she wrote the film to raise awareness of discrimination against lesbians.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2007 publicly announced that he was disowning his adopted daughter because she was a lesbian.

Cambodia's film industry has been battered by declining audiences, forcing many theatres to close over the past few years. Read more!

Cambodia denounces ICC over issuing arrest warrant for Sudanese president

PHNOM PENH, The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Sudanese President Omaral-Bashir has been destroying the international efforts to deal with the matters of the Darfur region, said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen here on Thursday.

"The arrest warrant for the governing Sudanese president from the court in Hague of Holland will lead to nothing, as you all can wait and see," he told the annual work-review conference of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries, which was held at the Royal University of Agriculture.

On March 4, ICC issued the arrest warrant against the Sudanese president over charges of war crimes and crimes of anti-humanity. So far, Omar al-Bashir is still working in his country in the capacity of president.

"The Sudanese people and troops with weapons in their hands will not allow the court to arrest their leader," said Hun Sen.

The ruling Sudanese president has his privilege in leading the country, he said, adding that "I do not know why ICC did like that."

In addition, the premier stressed that ICC can not follow suit in Cambodia to arrest the surviving leaders of the former Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime (1975-1979).

"Those DK leaders now stay in a place here and we ourselves can arrest them for tribunal," he added.

Currently, five senior DK leaders are under custody of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), which was co-installed by UN and the Cambodian government two years ago to put these people on trial on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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Corruption Allegations Affect Khmer Rouge Trials

By SETH MYDANS


BANGKOK — Even as Khmer Rouge trials in Cambodia gain momentum with compelling testimony from the regime’s chief torturer, allegations of corruption among the tribunal staff have slowed the international funding that keeps the process alive.

A United Nations envoy left Cambodia late Wednesday saying he had failed to reach an agreement with the government over internal mechanisms for the reporting of corruption allegations in the jointly administered trials.

The U.N. official, Peter Taksoe-Jensen, assistant secretary general for legal affairs, placed the blame on the government side, which he said was refusing to make a key compromise.

Five leading figures in the Communist Khmer Rouge have been arrested in connection with the deaths of 1.7 million people during their 1975-79 rule. The tribunal was established in 2006, and courtroom hearings began last month.

The United Nations Development Program, which administers funding from donors including the United States, Japan, the European Union and Australia, is withholding the money, saying it is waiting for the issue to be resolved.

“It remains critical to the United Nations that the allegations of corruption and other misconduct are effectively addressed,” Mr. Taksoe-Jensen said in a statement.

The corruption allegations, together with an appearance of government manipulation of the judicial process, have thrown a shadow across the trials at a moment when they appear to be bearing fruit with gripping and self-incriminating testimony from Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, the commandant of the Tuol Sleng torture house. In hearings this week, Duch, the first of the defendants to face trial, has portrayed himself as a dedicated and creative functionary in a hierarchy of terror and killing.

But an appearance of political interference has tainted the process since early this year, when a Cambodian prosecutor objected to widening the indictments beyond the five defendants who are already in custody. She gave political rather than judicial reasons for her objection, echoing positions that have been taken by the government.

Last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen took those positions a step further, saying he would rather see the trials collapse than have the number of defendants increase.

He cited the possibility of popular unrest, but foreign analysts said it was more likely he was seeking to keep control over a legal process that could lead in unpredictable and damaging directions.

“My greatest fear is that the tribunal will simply fade away from lack of funding — with the donors reluctant to fund a tribunal unable or unwilling to address the allegations,” said John A. Hall, a professor at the Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California, who has been monitoring the trials.

“In terms of what is happening inside the courtroom, this is an amazingly exciting time,” he said. But he added: “We shouldn’t pretend that progress can continue unless the corruption issue is dealt with.”

Just to get it to the end of this year, according to a revised budget forecast, the court needs new funding of $44.1 million in addition to the $56.3 million already budgeted.

The corruption allegations involve reports of kickbacks from Cambodian employees to Cambodian officials in return for their jobs, a system that reflects a common practice in Cambodia.

Such kickbacks might not affect the quality of justice at the tribunal, but they raise questions about the possibility of more damaging corruption, trial monitors say.

“Can you support a judicial institution that is willing to tolerate serious allegations of corruption without addressing them?” asked Heather Ryan, the Cambodia representative of the Open Society Justice Initiative, a legal monitoring group based in New York.

“Funding a court that is unwilling to address credible allegations of corruption is a significant problem,” she said. “It makes it appear that you are in some respect condoning the situation.”

The Cambodian side is insisting on parallel reporting mechanisms in which Cambodian staff report corruption allegations only to Cambodian officials. Critics say this system would have a chilling effect on whistle-blowers.

“The United Nations continues to believe that, for the ethics monitoring system to be credible, the staff should have the freedom to approach the ethics monitor of their choice and put forward complaints without fear of retaliation,” Mr. Taksoe-Jensen said in his statement.

“Such freedom of choice is an imperative element of a trustworthy ethics monitoring system,” he said.

The corruption allegations were originally made two years ago by the Justice Initiative and were followed by news media reports that Cambodian staffers had complained about having to make payments of as much as 30 percent of their salaries.

The United Nations has investigated the allegations — which the Cambodian side denies — and has come under criticism for refusing to disclose its findings.

The impasse over a corruption reporting mechanism reflects a broader problem at the tribunal, which has been in place for nearly three years: an uncomfortable and sometimes adversarial relationship between the Cambodian and foreign staffs.

“One problem in the court is that the two sides don’t trust each other,” said Panhavuth Long, a project officer at the Justice Initiative. “The national side and the U.N. side, after two or three years working together, have not established a network of trust that allows them to sit together and have a frank discussion.” Read more!

Plot to assassinate Thai royal adviser uncovered

Is Thailand happy with the royal family or they are the obstacles for them?

BANGKOK - Thai police have arrested three men who they claim were plotting to assassinate an adviser to King Bhumibol Adulyadej at a time of rising political tension in the country, a news report said Wednesday.

The suspects allegedly told investigators that some military officers wanted to create turmoil ahead of Wednesday’s mass rally by supporters loyal to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Nation reported.

The supposed target was Chanchai Likhitjittha, a member of the royal Privy Council and former Supreme Court judge who Thaksin claimed was deeply involved in the decision to overthrow him in a September 2006 coup. Chanchai later served as justice minister in the military’s post-coup government.

The three men, including the alleged organiser of the plot, an army major, have all confessed, deputy national police chief General Jongrak Chuthanont said.

The would-be gunman, who was apparently hired for 130,000 baht ($3,600), was caught outside Chanchai’s home on the outskirts of Bangkok.

A mass demonstration by Thaksin’s Red-Shirt supporters Wednesday, is aimed at shaking up the political scene by targeting royal advisers who the group claims are meddling in politics.

Red Shirt leaders hope at least 100,000 people will gather outside the Government House, the cabinet offices, before moving on to the nearby home of former prime minister and army commander General Prem Tinsulanonda, the man they claim was the ‘mastermind’ behind the 2006 coup. Prem currently heads the Privy Council.

News of the alleged plot against the royal adviser was being treated sceptically in some quarters. ‘A very convenient plot,’ said a Red Shirt organiser, who asked not to be named.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the authorities would act ‘decisively’ to protect the monarchy and maintain law and order during the protest but that no state of emergency would be called..
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From Cambodia to Columbia

By Nettra Pan


Through the phone, the voice sounded cracked and distorted, heavy with genuine concern, aged by more than enough traumatizing experiences for any one lifetime. Thinking of the crime, violence, and general danger present at the time in a war-riddled nation, my grandmother wasted no time making herself clear regarding an offer my father had received. She told him, “I want my granddaughter to still have a father.”

This was my grandmother’s reaction to my dad’s announcement that he would be accepting a position in Cambodia’s United Nations Transitional Authority in 1992. At a time when refugees were still fleeing from the postwar conflict in Southeast Asia, seeking life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness anywhere but home, my father was among those headed in the opposite direction—to help, toward home (if you could even call it “home,” seeing as he had not been there in 20 years). To my grandmother, I imagine that my father’s acceptance of this job encompassed many negative doubts and fears. Accepting meant to abandon his stable post at Unocal, an oil company now absorbed by the corporate giant Chevron. It meant leaving Southern California, the place where most of the surviving members on my father’s side had sought refuge from the Khmer Rouge genocide of 1975-1979.

For my mother, my father’s choice didn’t translate easily either. She had just recently moved to the United States from France, where her side of the family found protection from the war. For her, it was only after countless garage sales, selling our car and our house, and transits in France, Switzerland, and Thailand, that she and I, a wide-eyed toddler at the time, finally reunited with my father in Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh.

Here in New York, nearing the end of my first year at Columbia, I’ve been flattered to see a rise in the number of people curious about my past, especially given the great diversity on our campus. Like high school students will be asking themselves this month, I’ve had my share of the typical “Why Columbia?” question. True, a lot of students choose their colleges because of the distance between their school and home. New York City is the ultimate destination for students who may be habituated to a small town—students thirsty for more everything, especially more freedom. But my grandmother had a point when she spoke to my dad 30 years earlier. Isn’t moving halfway around the world a bit much?

The international student would know: College abroad means trading in real phone calls for Skype and IM at odd hours of the night. For some, this difference means sacrificing frequent visits from home for frequent packages from Lerner. It involves exchanging long transit hours at airports for even longer winters away from home. For my parents, their only child’s choice of college probably led to a more severe case of Empty Nest Syndrome and accentuated their characteristics as protective, demanding parents. (Yes, Cambodians fit the Asian stereotype as well.) My father seemed most convinced that the crime, violence, and general danger of a big city automatically dropped Columbia from the list from which I was choosing. He also preferred Stanford and Berkeley for the fact that I would be closer to family. Ironic, no?

Maybe not. As the sun, squirrels, and acceptance letters come out again, existential questions begin to resurface in the classic Columbia fashion as I ask myself how I got here. I remember the plane ride, the excitement, how new and not quite familiar everything felt at first but how natural and comforting everything ended up being. Columbia helped, of course, by arranging a dinner for international students on our first night at school. Six months later, the friends I made there are still some of my closest friends, hailing from Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. These friends helped as well. I was lucky enough, as an international student, to be adopted by an American family for a weekend and get a chance to indulge in the American traditions of Thanksgiving and Christmas, or Hanukkah.

Looking back, perhaps the parallel between my father’s move to Cambodia and mine to New York is not that unexpected. It’s likely that the same thing that lured my father to Cambodia was exactly what I found in the City that Never Sleeps; a dynamic life, internationalism, and the ability to give back to our land of origin, still in dire need of assistance. I guess you could say the United Nations headquarters located here was also factor in my decision. But most importantly, another similarity is how well our seemingly arbitrary choices worked out. Raising me in the international environment of a developing country provided me with an interesting perspective. I feel lucky to have gotten the best of all three worlds, compared to American or French cousins whose parents did not return to Cambodia. Thinking of how strongly these three countries influence me now, I don’t know how I ever imagined myself elsewhere else. Riding the subway downtown, walking across campus, or even just sitting in John Jay, I realize New York is the one place where nearly everyone here is also from somewhere else. But the fact I cherish most is this: It feels like home.

The author is a Columbia College first-year.


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Large anti-government protest in Bangkok

Bangkok, Tens of thousands of supporters of coup-ousted Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra rallied here today, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the top advisor to Thailand’s revered King.

Waving red coloured, foot-shaped clappers, the protestors, wearing red shirts, under the banner of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), surrounded the official residence of the influential Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda whom Mr Shinawatra accuses of having masterminded the September 2006 coup d’etat that toppled him.

An estimated 60,000 UDD members from across the country had gathered by mid-day in the heart of the Thai capital’s government zone, announcing they would remain there till the government quits.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister announced that the Southeast Asian nations summit scheduled from April 10-12 in the nearby resort town of Pattaya would go ahead despite a physical assault by UDD cadres on his motorcade there yesterday.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders are scheduled to meet their counterparts from India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand during the ASEAN Plus One Summits, the ASEAN Plus Three Summit and the East Asia Summit.

Thousands of red-clad anti-government protestors have been besieging the Prime Minister’s Office for the past fortnight and listening to live video messages and phone calls from Mr Shinawatra from abroad every night.

The ousted leader has upped the stakes in his confrontation with what he calls the aristocratic-elite establishment which he accuses of toppling him because he was working to empower the rural poor.

Mr Shinawatra has fired up UDD passions by directly naming the Privy Council chief of instigating the 2006 coup and calling on Thai people to topple the old order to bring about a historic change for their children’s future. Read more!

Cambodian, Thai PMs to meet on border disputes

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Senwill meet with his Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva in order to solve both sides' border disputes and avoid further armed clash, a Cambodian spokesman said here on Tuesday.

"They will meet for bilateral talks during the ASEAN summits from April 10 to 12 in Thailand," said Phay Siphan, secretary of state and spokesman of the Council of Ministers.

Cambodia welcomes talks anywhere and anytime to avoid further armed clash between Thai and Cambodia troops in the areas near the Preah Vihear temple, he said.

Two rounds of armed confrontations took place last Friday after Thai troops with weapons intruded on Cambodian land near the 900-year-old temple, and resulted in death and casualty on the Thai side, according to a statement issued by the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Since July 2008, troops from both sides have stationed near the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and two armed confrontations last year sparked brief concerns of war.

The two neighboring countries have never fully demarcated their disputed border, mainly due to different interpretations of historical maps, as well as the landmines left over from decades of civil war in Cambodia.
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